Melissa Nelson, a worker fired for being "irresistible" to her boss, spoke out Saturday about a high court decision that said her termination broke no discrimination law.

"The last couple of days have just been an emotional roller coaster. I'm trying to stay strong. It's tough," she told CNN's Don Lemon. "I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's right."

Nelson spoke one day after the all-male Iowa Supreme Court ruled on her case. The high court sided with a lower court, ruling that Nelson's termination did not constitute sex discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

Iowa Supreme Court: OK to fire 'irresistible' workerShe was not fired because of her gender, the court decided, but because her boss and his wife felt Nelson was a threat to their marriage.Nelson was hired in 1999 as a dental assistant for James Knight. She stayed on at the Fort Dodge business for more than 10 years.

"The court got it absolutely right," said Stuart Cochrane, Knight's attorney. He said that for the Iowa Supreme Court to have acted otherwise, it would have had to "ignore every other case we could find" with similar facts.

At first blush, he said, the result might sound bizarre. But Cochrane stressed that if all the facts of the case were known, the court's decision would seem more fair."He and his wife really agonized about it," Cochrane said about Knight. "He didn't want to terminate her."

According to the high court's decision, Knight complained to Nelson toward the end of her employment that her clothes were tight and "distracting." Cochrane said Knight asked her repeatedly to dress differently.

Nelson denied that what she wore was out of place, and when asked by CNN's Lemon whether she dressed appropriately at work, she said she wore scrubs.At one point, Knight told Nelson that "if she saw his pants bulging, she would know her clothing was too revealing," the decision read.

Read the court's decision (PDF)At another point, in response to an alleged comment Nelson made about the infrequency of her sex life, Knight responded: [T]hat's like having a Lamborghini in the garage and never driving it."Nelson and Knight, both married with children, also exchanged text messages to each other outside of work. Neither objected to the texting.

But Knight's wife, who was employed at the same dental office, found out about those messages in late 2009 and demanded he fire Nelson.

In early 2010, he did just that.

In the presence of a pastor, Knight told Nelson that she had become a "detriment" to his family and for the sakes of both their families, they should no longer work together. Knight gave Nelson one month's severance.

In a subsequent conversation between Knight and Nelson's husband, Knight said Nelson had done nothing wrong and that "she was the best dental assistant he ever had," the decision read.Nelson filed a lawsuit, arguing that Knight fired her because of her gender. She did not contend that he committed sexual harassment.

In response, Knight argued that Nelson was fired because of the "nature of their relationship and the perceived threat" to his marriage, not because of her gender. In fact, he said, Knight only employs women and replaced Nelson with another female worker.A district court sided with Knight; Nelson appealed.

Framing the issue for the Iowa Supreme Court, Justice Edward M. Mansfield wrote: "The question we must answer is ... whether an employee who has not engaged in flirtatious conduct may be lawfully terminated simply because the boss views the employee as an irresistible attraction."

Answering the question, he continued: "The issue before us is not whether a jury could find that Dr. Knight treated Nelson badly. We are asked to decide only if a genuine fact issue exists as to whether Dr. Knight engaged in unlawful gender discrimination when he fired Nelson at the request of his wife. For the reasons previously discussed, we believe this conduct did not amount to unlawful discrimination, and therefore we affirm the judgment of the district court."

She has a case for unemployment for sure. She also HAD a case for sexual harassment, which would have made her court case more relevant.

Definitely agree. Kind of surprised that she didn't go after the sexual harassment angle. And what i don't get is since when is it a threat to a marriage when only one party is lusting after the other? He can sport chubb all day and jerk off between patients, as long as she's in a committed relationship and doesn't stray then it's just an employer fawning over his somewhat f**kable (by midwest standards) dental assistant.

He just comes across like a spineless douchebag. And I'll be surprised if his practice is still around in 2 years. I think the backlash is gonna make him think twice.

Well maybe I am a bit racist. But for me to fall for a white girl, she really must be the bomb! Otherwise, I normally just say "Pass". Maybe she is hot to an NFL or NBA player, but not to me.

I grew up 30 miles south of Fort Dodge, so i know what an armpit of a town it is. She's probably considered hot by "small town Iowa standards", but outside of Iowa she's a 6 at best. Even with an a$$ like J-Lo and some fake tiggles she's still.....Meh.

When Nelson's husband tried to reason with Knight, the dentist told him he "feared he would have an affair with her down the road if he did not fire her."

My response would have been, "I don't think you have to worry about that, because my wife is not attracted to you in the least. And if you keep making inappropriate passes at my wife, my fist will make an appropriate pass thru your gum line".

When Nelson's husband tried to reason with Knight, the dentist told him he "feared he would have an affair with her down the road if he did not fire her."

My response would have been, "I don't think you have to worry about that, because my wife is not attracted to you in the least. And if you keep making inappropriate passes at my wife, my fist will make an appropriate pass thru your gum line".

but you are a guy. For instance my homie's wife was pulled over and hit on by a cop. He asked for a number and she gave him the REAL number, is that jacked or is it me? Now had she talked to the cop like a dude then she'd have been arrested, but to give the real number. NOW if this lady really hated the attention she'd have left, dental assistants can find jobs and no matter how tough it was you'd leave. My point is she loved the attention and never shot it down cause chicks love to hold that in the pocket. Not many women cheat with some random guy, it's usually the shoulder they cried on,

but you are a guy. For instance my homie's wife was pulled over and hit on by a cop. He asked for a number and she gave him the REAL number, is that jacked or is it me? Now had she talked to the cop like a dude then she'd have been arrested, but to give the real number. NOW if this lady really hated the attention she'd have left, dental assistants can find jobs and no matter how tough it was you'd leave. My point is she loved the attention and never shot it down cause chicks love to hold that in the pocket. Not many women cheat with some random guy, it's usually the shoulder they cried on,

Totally messed up imo. There's nothing wrong with saying, "I'm very flattered, but also very married" and leave it at that. Your ego will still benefit from the compliment without having to complicate things further.

This chic was with the dental practice for 10yrs, so I'm sure she had a comfortable salary. I agree, she should have nipped the comments early on and let the dentist know they weren't appropriate. She may have been.fired, but then you'd have a sexual harassment case instead of wrongful termination.

I think this came down to her knowing she was never going to cheat with this pathetic putz, so she dealt with the comments as "part of the job". The ratchet wh0re of a wife, on the otherhand, needs to be muffin punched. The girl wasnt the problem, her husband was. Chances are, he's gonna cheat with another woman at some point if he hasnt.done it already.

I'd really like to see just what she was wearing.
I work with some really hot women and I'm an instructor at a college so I see the dance. BUT check this, I work with some cuties that constantly were calling me sweetie and honey and their little names. I pulled the 2 aside and told them that they should stop calling me by that and Mr. Hernandez was fine. They tripped out and now they want a shot at the champ even more, right after they told me they talk to everyone like that. I see them conversing with the fat instructors and they never ONCE called them sweetie or touched them in anyway. When they talk to me they gotta touch my shoulder and smile and laugh and play with their hair, it's ridiculous. I told one "only girls I'm waking up next to call me honey or sweetie", she said"Okay sweetie". I have yet to hit it, and guess what call me spineless but I have a woman. I would love to hit it just no time, sure I'm a jerk but guys are as faithful as their options (cris rock). And if a woman keeps calling me honey cause she wants me to frack her, I'd rather frack her then go through a court case about harassment.
This dental assistant should have broke him off a piece, gotten a contact made up, and lived happily ever after. I trip when ladies treat their snatch like the holy grail, trick you let ERRYone have that and now you want me to do back flips, CHALE

The only part of this that I don't understand is how the court determined she didn't engage in "flirtatious conduct"?

It says that the two of them exchanged text messages on the regular and she complained about the infrequent nature of her sex life to him.

Granted, maybe he kind of generated a conversation that would end up leading in that direction... but to say that she acted 100% professional all the time and this dude fired her for no reason is not really telling the entire story. She was sexting wtih the boss, his wife found out about it, boss has no spine and caved to wife... end of story.

Another example of CNN trying to rile people up over nothing. They have been doing that forever though.